The following two weeks were busy. Sophia met and measured (in more ways than one) the unattached ladies of the Weriban court. Her list of interested or suitable candidates shrank considerably. Indeed, the only young lady she felt had the grace, intelligence and humour to be a good partner to the Overlord was desperately pining …
I'm a member of an online writing group that's working its way through Steering the Craft by Ursula Le Guinn. Each week we move to the next chapter and its attendant writing exercise. A recent one asked us to create a piece using repetition as a theme. It sort of ran away with me. Rose …
Alec was halfway through the locket explanation when there was a knock on the door. He stole another quick kiss and went to open it. Lady Aurelia stood on the other side, eyes twinkling, "All well then?" "I believe I'm temporarily forgiven." He stood back and she entered the room, moving to sit beside Mellisande. …
Marcus grimaced, "I appreciate you respecting their dignity and trying to do the right thing, but you might want to bear in mind that none of them can keep a secret to save themselves." "So if we were to have a little chat, it'll be all over the castle." "Before lunch. It's another reason every …
Edda showed Millie up three flights of stairs to her room, leaving her to unpack a little and explore. It was a lovely, light-filled place with comfortable furniture and a neat little balcony begging for young plants to be nursed into growth there, in company with the two blooming vines hugging themselves to the building …
Paul kept Lexi hopping with requests for information on the house, its layout, its history, its owner and more. Eventually she put her foot down and organised a conference between him, Simon and the three architects in order to lay out both the history and the possible futures of the house. She decided not to …
The party leaving Sophia's family home a couple of days later was larger than expected, at least by Connor. Sophia's parents came to a swift decision after a letter arrived from Prince Stephen, requesting their kind attendance at a conference to discuss the education of the future queen of Lillia. Sophia thought he needed to …
After another twenty minutes or so of conversation, during which Anaria was conscious of being kindly but thoroughly questioned and assessed, Ingrid and Samuel made their farewells and the household settled in for the night. The next morning, following Sarah's instructions, Anaria gathered fresh clothes, donned the previous day's outfit and joined her in the …
A couple of weeks ago, my writing group gave ourselves a collective week off and, instead of putting our latest 2,000-odd words up for feedback, we tuned in to the 2020 Tolkien Lecture from Pembroke College at Oxford. It was a great presentation, a flowing, ninety minute conversation between six highly regarded authors and an …
He knew his smile was not going to be well received but couldn't help its spread. She'd been wanting to kiss him. He was right. At the sight of the smile, her eyes opened wide, realising what she'd said, what she'd admitted. "No. Don't you dare be smug. You are not allowed to be smug." …
The DNA of Stories 